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Driving Through Flood Waters: Surviving the Danger

Flash floods are the number one cause of weather-related deaths in the United States. Learn what you should do if you are caught in the middle of a flash flood. (Published Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018)

How do you measure a disaster like Florence? In sum, the storm is turning out to be every bit as devastating as forecasters expected, with trillions of gallons of rain still in the forecast, thousands of people seeking shelter, hundreds of thousands of power outages and more than a dozen of deaths. The economic toll remains to be tallied.

Heavy rains: Up to 18 trillion gallons (68 trillion liters) falling on seven states over seven days, as much water as there is the entire Chesapeake Bay.

So far: Already, more than 2 feet (60 centimeters) of rain had fallen in places, and forecasters were saying there could be an additional 1½ feet (45 centimeters) before Sunday was out. In Swansboro, North Carolina, nearly 34 inches of rain had fallen by Sunday afternoon and 14 other places in North Carolina had at least 20 inches, according to the National Weather Service. Another 16 locations in North and Carolina had at least 10 inches.

How Much Rain Florence May Bring

This map shows how much rain is expected to fall within seven days.

Updated Sept. 17, 2018 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
Source: NOAA/NWS/NCEP/WPC

More than 23 inches has fallen in Wilmington, bringing the rainfall total of 2018 in the city to nearly 87 inches. That smashed last year's total of 83 inches, and there are still three months left in 2018.

In the dark: 450,000 outages across the Carolinas, as of Sunday. As the storm hit, there were a total of 1.3 million outages.

Protected: About 20,000 people in shelters in North Carolina, 6,400 in South Carolina and 400 in Virginia.

Potential Florence Storm Surge

This map shows how high the storm surge from Hurricane Florence has a 1 in 10 chance of reaching, measured in feet above ground and with the tide. Click a location to see the possible storm surge height there.

Roads Closed: 30 roads in New Bern, North Carolina remained closed. And a 16-mile stretch of Interstate 95 was shut down in North Carolina due to flooding, posing a problem for people still trying to evacuate or those attempting to bring supplies into the state.

Populated coastline: 11 million Americans live in areas that had been under storm watches and warnings

Rescued: More than 400 people needed help in high waters in New Bern and Jacksonville, North Carolina. Over in Pender County, officials said Sunday afternoon that there had been 300 water rescues in the last 12 hours.